Cost effective fiber optic physical layer for aircraft utility networks

The next ten years will see an unprecedented growth in the production rate of transport aircraft and business jets with next generation commercial transport jets being produced at a rate of one a day and final assembly taking place in less than five days. Aggressive development schedules for new aircraft designs will continue to be a feature of the industry and this will have implications for new technology; achievement of high technology readiness levels early in the aircraft development cycle will be a necessity and the ability to demonstrate full design and simulation support will be essential to raise confidence and reduce risk. This paper describes the requirements for future utility network solutions, the candidate network technologies and the approach being taken to achieve a cost effective fiber optic physical layer.